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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 17347
[Religious]
Date Posted:
2/24/2007
8:13:59 am EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 13,009
RSS: 22,081
Comments: 61
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Christian Group Resists Local Occult Movement
Author: Charity Gordon Source: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (MS)
Title: CHRISTIAN GROUP RESISTS LOCAL OCCULT MOVEMENT
  In November five local members of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal benefit and service society, discovered a Tupelo store that deals in occult books and magic supplies.
Dave Palladino, one of the men, said the group felt compelled to act on that discovery.
"We want to let people know it's there, and it's dangerous," he said. "It's just so easy to turn our backs on certain things. I see that apathy as such a danger."
The group has invited the Rev. Chris Crotty, who conducts retreats on spiritual healing throughout the nation, to speak to area pastors about Christ-centered healing and a rise in occult activity.
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Community Thoughts: There are 61 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| It's Called Leaving Others Alone... | Feb 27th. at 3:01:09 pm EST
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Starling (Montreal, Quebec) - Email Me
They wish to discuss how they, as a community, can stand against the occult movement in their town. I say treat it like Jews or Muslims or even Buddhists for that matter, leave them alone. Talk about it amongst yourselves, and try to keep your own away from it, if you will, and if they'll stay, but leave those who already have different beliefs alone.
I'm surprised that K of Cs are that against religious diversity. My maternal grandfather was a K of C, and he never bashed a different belief. At least, he was as "guilty" as we were all, on my mother's side, of practicing ancestor worship, as far as I know.
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| To Get Attention For Religious Speaker? | Feb 27th. at 1:34:37 pm EST
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spiralram (Natchez, Mississippi) - Email Me
Impression that this was a way to create a classic; "bait and switch" program for the benefit of a fun da mental religion that is losing members and Money. Strange that the messenger was attacked, and that a paper (please read their mission statement) , known for helping the community, allowed an unedited piece to slip through. Class, today is brought to us by the word TOLERANCE.
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| This Is The Letter I Sent Last Night To Both: | Feb 26th. at 2:55:52 pm EST
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spatch3 (Orcutt, California) - Email Me
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 22:21:02 -0800 (PST)
From: spatch3
Subject: The Wiccans and pagans are watching what happens in Tupelo, Mississippi
To: charity.gordon@djournal.com, mike.tonos@djournal.com
Charity,
I read your article "Christian group resists local
occult movement:"
[Web LINK]
Imagine my horror to find how one sided this article
was. It didn't have one positive voice about the
Mystic Eye store, let alone letting the owners of the
store speak for themselves.
Molotov cocktails sitting outside a store front
doesn't help Mississippi's image. "Never again the
burning times" isn't an adage just for race relations
but is also a rally cry against religious intolerance.
I can only hope and pray to my Goddess that
Mississippi has broken with his hate filled past.
Goddess Bless!
Spatch
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| My Letter To The Writer And The Editor: | Feb 26th. at 1:23:29 pm EST
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Strix (Tulsa, Oklahoma) - Email Me
C. Gordon,
I am surprised and affronted by that malignant piece of writing you call an article that appeared recently in the Daily Journal entitled “Christian group resists local occult movement”. May I ask what exactly the Christian groups in your article are resisting? Are evil devil worshiping pagans knocking down their doors and demanding fidelity to the anti-Christ? Are they stealing the townspeople’s children and forcing them to take part in sacrificial rites? Are they doing anything but minding their own business?
Don’t get me wrong, all people are entitled to their opinions, however warped, but you are a journalist. You have a certain responsibility not to reinforce discrimination and xenophobia. If this article were circulated in a purely Christian publication it still would not be acceptable, but at least it would be in the proper sphere of drivel, and the general public would be protected from such stupidity. However, from a brief inspection of the Daily Journal, it appears to be a secular publication, and I would say this article is undeniably inappropriate. The creed of the Daily Journal is "Be Just, Fear Not.'' Your article was in no way just. Now what you have to fear is the guilt of injuries you have caused to those whom you have so gracelessly slapped in the face. Maybe you should go back and read the Journal’s list of principles yourself. I have conveniently placed the link below for quick access:
[Web LINK]
Particularly what stands out to me is:
"We must seek the fullest possible development of each person in our community. Without good people you cannot build a good business or a good community.”
“The Journal consciously strives to be a good player on a strong community team.”
A team player, huh? If you were being a team player maybe you would have suggest an interfaith dialogue, or hell, even given the shop owners a quote in your article. Instead you have further divided your community with bias discrimination.
Would you dare so openly pick on racial minorities as much as you do the religious ones in any sane sphere of publication? They have a hard enough time as it is just trying to get along quietly without you pointing your little finger and yelling, “Look, look, heretics!” You are bringing troubles down on their heads that they neither earned nor deserved. How dare you.
Did you even bother talking to the shop owners at all? Did you bother to take the time to try to understand even half of what is really going on? This whole hullabaloo was stirred up by a few overzealous Knights of Columbus, nobody Pagan at all. What these Christians are doing is religious discrimination and persecution. It is a passive aggressive attack against a peaceful religion that has done nothing to deserve such ire. Instead of refuting such shameful behavior you are reinforcing it.
Your article is so extremely unbalanced that it is almost laughable, but I assure you, none of us are laughing. You have done a grave injustice to the owners of the Mystic Eye, and the Pagan community as a whole. You have done nothing more than spew religious propaganda aimed at the defamation of good people. People that it seems you have not even talked to! At the very least they deserve an apology. At the most, I’d say it would be a smart move for your editor to restrict you to arranging the classifieds.
Sincerely,
WNB
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| I'm Really Ashamed.... | Feb 26th. at 12:08:46 pm EST
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Sparrow (Chicago, Mississippi) - Email Me
to say that this was written by someone in my state. I wrote a letter to the editor as soon as I was able to find the contact page - something made harder by the fact that I was sitting here huffing for a good ten minutes. Things like this happen often, all over our "great" state, and - as usual - we fall behind the rest of the nation when it comes to tolerance of any sort. And news articles like this only support that narrow-minded view. Please, think of our state when asking your dieties to pass out blessings - we can use all the help we can get around here.
*is still disgusted* I will bid you farewell and brightest blessings.
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| A Letter To The Editor | Feb 26th. at 10:51:33 am EST
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Arachne Priestess (Cookeville, Tennessee) - Email Me
Here is the letter I sent to both the Editor and the Author of this article, thanks to the email addresses left for us by The Mystic Eye:
I understand the need to fill space in a newspaper with articles that are eye catching, controversial, and news worthy, but is the article about the store called the Mystic Eye really all of that? Stories about Pagans, their stores, their beliefs, and the Christian reaction pepper newspapers across the country. But the sad fact is they are one sided and usually biased. The Occult, Paganism, Witchcraft, and Wicca are made to either be fluffy bunny games done by femi-nazis or devil worship done by dysfunctional goth teens and adults who worship demons, sacrifice chickens, molest children and undermine the established religions, especially Christianity.
Your article does nothing more than raise a dangerous awareness of something that is so misjudged that it precipitates prejudice and alot of the time violence, as well. The store has a right to be in business, but your article puts it at the center of a maelstrom of prejudice. Did you think about the danger you put the owners of that store in? Did you think about the danger you place the store's customers in?
We practice our beliefs quietly, and yes, most of the time in secret, because of this very bigotry - out of fear. We don't talk about our beliefs with others or push (witness) our beliefs, because we attempt to practice tolerance and respect for other beliefs. But it is articles like this one that make that tolerance so difficult.
Our children are bullied and beaten in school for being different. We are constantly harassed with the ever famous 'your gonna burn in hell'. We are ostracized by family and friend alike for our beliefs. And yet we remain as stoic in our faith as any Christian does in theirs.
Shame on your for printing something like that, without even speaking to the owners of the shop or giving them a quote. Shame on you for propagating the naive stigma of prejudice and bigotry that follows the word witchcraft. Next time do your homework about the Occult. And next time, remember that people have a right to worship as they please in this country, as well as open businesses such as this if they choose. And maybe, just maybe, the Christian Fraternity you wrote about is acting in a manner that borders on harassment. Shame on them for their naiveté and shame on you for furthering their cause.
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| Tupelo Is The Buckle. | Feb 26th. at 2:52:32 am EST
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Filmseye (Pontotoc, Mississippi) - Email Me
Tupelo is the 'Buckle of the Bible Belt'. I work in Tupelo and trust me when I say this. We are the home of the American Family Association's Chairman, Donald E. Wildmon. If you aren't sure what the AFA is then all you have to do is go to their website and read up on it.
People here fear what they don't know. But they can't help it because most of the time their beliefs have never been questioned. Try explaining to your 81 year old Southern Baptist Grandmother that you aren't going to go to Hell if you don't go to church on Sunday mornings. This whole town is run off of blind christian beliefs and the fear that we are going to burn if we don't believe what is preached about in church. The day that the Mystic Eye opened it doors was a cause of celebration. The news spread like wildfire. The owners of Mystic Eye are wonderful people and they welcome anyone of any faith to enter their store. Mystic Eye was much needed in our area and they filled the void.
Dave Palladino, one of the Knights of Columbus, said the group felt compelled to act on the fact that the store exists.
"We want to let people know it's there, and it's dangerous,...." Well, we all know that Mystic Eye is not dangerous and what's being asked is that people come forth to explain that. If only one side is being heard how can you clearly understand something and not fear it?
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| Binary Beliefs | Feb 26th. at 1:07:24 am EST
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Moonlight Wolf (Bradford, England) - Email Me
So another fundamentalist group wants to tell people how 'dangerous' the occult and New Age is.
It's another case of 'believe what we want you to believe or you're with the devil.'
It's this binary opposition mentality that means there is discrimination because if you think in terms of oppsosites then in your view something that is not a part of your belief system is therefore 'bad' or 'evil.'
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| A Way To Actually Help | Feb 25th. at 8:17:22 pm EST
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Dana Corby (Anderson Island, Washington) - Email Me
Situations like this really strike home to me, because when I was a 1st* I showed up for coven to find that the good Christian neighbors put a bullet through the front window of the covenstead, blowing it to bits and barely missing our HP as he walked through the living room.
A way to actually help is to use the email link on Mystic Eye's message here to send them messages of support. If they choose, they can take the (hopefully enormous) pile of messages with them to the meeting to show their enemies that this situation is being watched from all over the country. And make no mistake, 'enemies' is the right word.
Those living anywhere near Tupelo, please support Mystic Eye financially, and cruise by regularly to help keep the premises safe. If there's enough of you, a regular patrol might not be a bad idea for awhile. People who put molotov cocktails on doorsteps tend not to do it when they might get caught.
Never again the burning!
Dana Corby
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| "the Devil" Is At It Again! | Feb 25th. at 6:16:19 pm EST
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Karl (Detroit Metro, Michigan) - Email Me
My thoughts are with you folks at The Mystic Eye.
[Quote=cited article]
………."I want to express to the Catholic and overall Christian community about the dangers of New Age ideas and philosophies that present forms of healing that are not of Jesus Christ, whether that be cosmic energy or Reiki," said Crotty. "There's so much turning away from Jesus. It's of the devil. It's leading people away from Scripture."…..
[/QUOTE]
Yep, that bad ol’ bibledevil is at it again! Holistic approaches, etc. and anything not officially sanctioned by the control-mongering religionist hierocracy is demonized as per usual and is…….”of the devil”.
As we know, the word ‘occult’ means ‘hidden’, but if we Learn and Grow in Gnosis, then it’s no longer hidden to us. Of course, the last thing big religion wants is EnLightened votaries! Then, not only will they not be bleating sheeple anymore, but, as alluded to earlier, they won’t be there to be fleeced either.
As per John 14:12, and Mark 16:18, doctors should just about be extinct by now. I would like to see some documented instances of those healings and other “works” of ‘Jesus’Christ” being done by believers, as they are supposed to be as per these verses.
With “divinely inspired” “scripture” like this, who could blame people for leaving? ( [Web LINK] )
More on the alleged god-man from the alleged first-century town called “Nazareth” ( [Web LINK] )
Would the “heretic” hunters go back to their old ways? You bet they would, in a heartbeat. The below segment cited from the 2007 Catholic Encyclopedia at: ( [Web LINK] )
[QUOTE=HERESY ~ XIII. Intolerance and Cruelty]
The Church's legislation on heresy and heretics is often reproached with cruelty and intolerance. Intolerant it is: in fact its raison d'ętre is intolerance of doctrines subversive of the faith…….
………. Medieval people found no fault with the system, in fact heretics had been burned by the populace centuries before the Inquisition became a regular institution. And whenever heretics gained the upper hand, they were never slow in applying the same laws:…….
……….Toleration came in only when faith went out; lenient measures were resorted to only where THE POWER TO APPLY MORE SEVERE MEASURES WAS FOUND WANTING……
[/QUOTE]
And there you have it.
The only “devil” operating here is the fundie Xtian demon called ignorance, which has been around since its inception and expansion in the brutality and fascism of the self-seeking church-state….
K
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| Valid Point | Feb 25th. at 10:36:45 am EST
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Aritimi Morgana (RotterdamJct/Schdy/Scotia, New York) - Email Me
had to add my humble 2 cents in as well. So I've had some bad experiences with the Catholic religion and it's made me mad. Okay. I'm no longer Catholic. That's okay too. I'm happy with my present religion of Wicca because it has filled the spiritual void that I've lived with for many years after leaving the church.
The thing is, people, we need to realize the ones that heckle and terrorize us are only a certain percentage. A very loud, offensive and obnoxious percentage, but not the whole world. We need to narrow our focus here. Not every Christian in the US or world wants us dead. It's psycho organizations like the Fundamentalist Christians who are doing all the yelling and screaming about us. Those people do not constitute the whole world and WE ARE STRONGER THAN THEY ARE because we see those people for who they really are; ignorant, uneducated fools.
I pity them, I do, because they actively choose to live in ignorance and darkness. And it's their choice too. 'Judge not, lest ye be judged.' Yes, it comes from the bible, but that phrase should apply to EVERYONE, not just Christians. It works for us pagans as well.
Aren't we supposed to be the religion of light and love? (sorry, sarcasm at work here) . I know many pagans who post here have had some very bad past experience with the Christian religion and I do sympathize with them. But if we are consumed with the same kind of blind hate as they, does that make us any better?
It's a hard pill to swallow, I'm sure, but as intelligent people, we can see how faulty the Fundies' logic (or lack thereof) fuels their narrow little worldview. We know the difference because we choose to walk through life with our eyes open.
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| Comments From The Local Ogre | Feb 25th. at 10:11:29 am EST
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Finn (San Marcos, Texas) - Email Me
So what? They don't like us. They don't agree with our beliefs. They plan on getting together with their cronies and ranting about us (hrm... sounds like Witchvox) , and will likely tell each other that nobody should shop there. So what? Nothing in that article was advocating violence. Nothing was against the law. The day people under the Pagan Umbrella grow up, I'll start calling us a community. Until that day I'll just do my ogre thing. This is ridiculous.
People have a right to NOT like us. They have a right to exercise their free speech and say how they interpret our beliefs. Clearly we are doing the same thing. I refrain from it myself, but I witness on a daily basis people using terms like "Jeebus." We denegrate their God, make fun of their religion, make accusations about anything and everything. Somehow it is all the fault of the Fundies. It is so disgusting sometimes I wish there was a "smack" button on my laptop.
There is a difference between "discrimination" and "disagreement." They have the right to dislike us, boycott our businesses, and tell other people what they think of us. They think we are dangerous. Clearly the majority here think they are dangerous. I've gotten to the point where I can't see the difference between them as a group and us, at least as far as a danger to "my" rights.
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| Looks Like The Mystic Eye Opened | Feb 25th. at 9:26:15 am EST
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spatch3 (Orcutt, California) - Email Me
in November 2006. They even have a Witchvox profile:
[Web LINK]
Lets hope the local pagan community can ward off this Xian assaut on religious freedom.
Blessings!
Spatch
Find More info -- HERE
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| Fear-mongering & Idiocy | Feb 25th. at 4:33:54 am EST
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foreverknightfan (Dardanelle, Arkansas) - Email Me
Sheesh, more of THAT type of hysteria-driven, fundy ignorance masquerading as " concern for dangers".
Pardon me if I am mistaken but in the history of the Catholic Church, there was a LOT of nasty, harmful stuff done in the name of Jesus. Maybe these self-rigteous " knights" should look at the rust in their own armor and quit acting like ignorant, intolerant bullies.
If the store owners do it right they could get a lot of good publicity out of this. The best exposure of these jerks is the contrast between their hyped-up ( and inaccurate) claims and the rational, calm store owner (s) showing the media the truth.
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| This May Backfire Badly | Feb 25th. at 1:19:24 am EST
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steward (Jackson, New Jersey) - Email Me - Web
Many Protestant groups, a lot of which are southern-US based, regard the Catholic Church itself as a Pagan group. It will be interesting to see if the Knights of Columbus have managed to draw attention from anti-Catholic Protestant groups.
I was raised Catholic, and was told by the nuns at my high school that as recently as 1960 a nun in Catholic habit would not be served at any local store, due to a heavy KKK influence - in Southern New Jersey! The Knights may need heavy artillery to defend their churches against fellow Christians before the dust settles on this one.
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